Weakness (CWE)
CWE-916: Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort
The product generates a hash for a password, but it uses a scheme that does not provide a sufficient level of computational effort that would make password cracking attacks infeasible or expensive.
More detail
Many password storage mechanisms compute a hash and store the hash, instead of storing the original password in plaintext. In this design, authentication involves accepting an incoming password, computing its hash, and comparing it to the stored hash.
Many hash algorithms are designed to execute quickly with minimal overhead, even cryptographic hashes. However, this efficiency is a problem for password storage, because it can reduce an attacker's workload for brute-force password cracking. If an attacker can obtain the hashes through some other method (such as SQL injection on a database that stores hashes), then the attacker can store the hashes offline and use various techniques to crack the passwords by computing hashes efficiently. Without a built-in workload, modern attacks can compute large numbers of hashes, or even exhaust the entire space of all possible passwords, within a very short amount of time, using massively-parallel computing (such as cloud computing) and GPU, ASIC, or FPGA hardware. In such a scenario, an efficient hash algorithm helps the attacker.
There are several properties of a hash scheme that are relevant to its strength against an offline, massively-parallel attack:
- The amount of CPU time required to compute the hash ("stretching")
- The amount of memory required to compute the hash ("memory-hard" operations)
- Including a random value, along with the password, as input to the hash computation ("salting")
- Given a hash, there is no known way of determining an input (e.g., a password) that produces this hash value, other than by guessing possible inputs ("one-way" hashing)
- Relative to the number of all possible hashes that can be generated by the scheme, there is a low likelihood of producing the same hash for multiple different inputs ("collision resistance")
Note that the security requirements for the product may vary depending on the environment and the value of the passwords. Different schemes might not provide all of these properties, yet may still provide sufficient security for the environment. Conversely, a solution might be very strong in preserving one property, which still being very weak for an attack against another property, or it might not be able to significantly reduce the efficiency of a massively-parallel attack.
How to prevent it (2 mitigations)
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Architecture and Design
Use an adaptive hash function that can be configured to change the amount of computational effort needed to compute the hash, such as the number of iterations ("stretching") or the amount of memory required. Some hash functions perform salting automatically. These functions can significantly increase the overhead for a brute force attack compared to intentionally-fast functions such as MD5. For example, rainbow table attacks can become infeasible due to the high computing overhead. Finally, since computing power gets faster and cheaper over time, the technique can be reconfigured to increase the workload without forcing an entire replacement of the algorithm in use.
Some hash functions that have one or more of these desired properties include bcrypt [REF-291], scrypt [REF-292], and PBKDF2 [REF-293]. While there is active debate about which of these is the most effective, they are all stronger than using salts with hash functions with very little computing overhead.
Note that using these functions can have an impact on performance, so they require special consideration to avoid denial-of-service attacks. However, their configurability provides finer control over how much CPU and memory is used, so it could be adjusted to suit the environment's needs.
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Implementation, Architecture and Design
When using industry-approved techniques, use them correctly. Don't cut corners by skipping resource-intensive steps (CWE-325). These steps are often essential for preventing common attacks.
Source: MITRE CWE-916
12 results · Clear filters · Feed
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Low 2.2
SH3 Módulo de Gestão/Módulo de Arrecadação weak password hash
A security vulnerability has been detected in SH3. This affects an unknown function of the component Módulo de Gestão/Módulo de Arrecadação. The manipulation leads to password hash with insufficient computational effort. The attack is possible to be carried o…
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Low 2.5
diem-project diem SHA1 PluginDmUser.class.php weak password hash
A vulnerability has been found in diem-project diem up to 5.1.3. This affects an unknown part of the file lib/model/doctrine/PluginDmUser.class.php of the component SHA1 Handler. Such manipulation of the argument salt/password leads to password hash with insu…
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Low 3.7
light0011 cms UserModel.class.php sha1 weak password hash
A security vulnerability has been detected in light0011 cms c774dce31c6df0055568a8d5c53d964d99be199d/f72cf46f601efb2a0618c3814cc2f61380b38930. Affected is the function sha1 of the file App/Home/Model/UserModel.class.php. The manipulation of the argument Passw…
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Low 3.7
YzmCMS MD5 system.func.php password weak password hash
A weakness has been identified in YzmCMS up to 7.6. Impacted is the function Password of the file /common/function/system.func.php of the component MD5 Handler. Executing a manipulation of the argument pass can lead to password hash with insufficient computat…
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Low 3.7
aircheng-org iWebShop-5 Authentication Storage admin.php weak password hash
A flaw has been found in aircheng-org iWebShop-5 up to 5.15. This impacts an unknown function of the file controllers/admin.php of the component Authentication Storage. Executing a manipulation of the argument Password can lead to password hash with insuffici…
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Low 2.4
Root password hash exposure vulnerability in ZTE F689 product
The root password hash of the device can be obtained through unencrypted information in the firmware.
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Low 3.7
Xuxueli xxl-job Token Generation IndexController.java makeToken weak password hash
A vulnerability was found in Xuxueli xxl-job up to 3.1.1 and classified as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function makeToken of the file src/main/java/com/xxl/job/admin/controller/IndexController.java of the component Token Generation. The manipul…
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Low 3.1
IROAD Dash Cam FX2 Password Hash passwd weak password hash
A vulnerability was found in IROAD Dash Cam FX2 up to 20250308. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file /etc/passwd of the component Password Hash Handler. The manipulation leads to password …
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Low 1.7CVE-2024-21754 Public exploit
A use of password hash with insufficient computational effort vulnerability [CWE-916] affecting FortiOS version 7.4.3 a…
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Low 1.6
Musicshelf SHA-1 PinningTrustManager.java weak password hash
A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Musicshelf 1.0/1.1 on Android. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file io\fabric\sdk\android\services\network\PinningTrustManager.java of the component SHA-1 Handler. The ma…
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Low 2.5
Supcon InPlant SCADA Project.xml unknown vulnerability
A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Supcon InPlant SCADA up to 20230901. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file Project.xml. The manipulation leads to password hash with insufficient computational effort. Loc…
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Low 2.7
Possible to infer sensitive information through query strings in Flask-AppBuilder
Flask-AppBuilder is an application development framework built on top of Flask python framework. In versions prior to 4.1.3 an authenticated Admin user could query other users by their salted and hashed passwords strings. These filters could be made by using …